Ancelotti: Finishing first gives us a small advantage

Wednesday’s comfortable home victory over Celtic means Real Madrid have qualified for the Champions League round of 16 as group winners, which manager Carlo Ancelotti believes will give his side a “small advantage” ahead of Monday’s draw.

Real Madrid “perfect” against Celtic

Speaking to Movistar after the victory against the Scottish champions, the Italian was delighted with his team’s performance on the night:

“We played well, we were focused from the very beginning. We started well and controlled the game well. We kept the pace up and tried to keep creating chances. We were really clinical and scored a lot of goals. Everything was perfect.”

Ancelotti praises Fede Valverde and Marco Asensio

At full-time, Ancelotti was seen joking with Fede Valverde, who was voted the game’s MVP, and was full of praise for both the Uruguayan and Marco Asensio:

“I think Valverde deserved his MVP trophy. Asensio also played really well today, he helped his teammates a lot, he was really clinical in the final third. I liked his performance.”

Asensio has had very little game time so far this season but the former Milan boss has hinted that the winger will have a bigger role to play as the season progresses:

“Asensio is a player who’s had a really tough time in the first part of the season. He’s not had many chances but I knew he was a player who could help us and that’s what he’ll do.”

Real Madrid with home advantage in the second leg in the next round

The draw for the round of 16 will take place on Monday 7 November and Ancelotti will hoping to avoid a similar fate to last year’s. Despite winning their group in 2021-22, Los Blancos were drawn to play Paris Saint-Germain in the last 16 and then faced an English triple header (Chelsea, Manchester City, Liverpool) on the way to lifting the trophy:

“After what happened last year, it’s better not to watch it! I think finishing first in the group gives you a small advantage but not that much. I think playing the return leg at home in the Bernabéu is the most important thing. That really benefited us last year.”

Carlo Ancelotti - Champions League record-breaker

Ancelotti has now won more Champions League games (103) than any other manager but would prefer to look forward rather than back:

“It means that I’ve been in charge of a lot of games and that I’ve done quite well. Let’s see if I can make it to 200. I’ve pleased to have broken the record here.”